Not a lot happened of interest today. I've got to the stage now where I am getting used to life in Toledo, and I am very comfortable here. If I had my girlfriend here with me I think I could stay here forever!

In class it was just me and Cristina again, but another teacher was there (I don't know his name) for the break, so there were 3 of us at break time. In the lesson today we talked a bit about the differences between family life in the UK and family life in Spain. I told her about my observations about the use of public space in Spain compared to England, and I also told her about my relationship with my family and she told me about hers.

She told me that in Spain it is normal for people to live with their parents much longer than in England. She said that she lives in a house with her parents and her sister (she is the same age as me), and that her grandmother lives with her every other month, and spends the other months living with her aunt. I told her how my family lived all over the place and that I don't see my parents that often, and she says in Spain it is normal to visit your parents a lot more frequently (a couple of times a week). I also told her that my parents are my friends as well as my parents, and when we see each other we will go to the pub and have a few drinks, and she said that in Spain this would be unusual, and that the relationship with your parents is a lot more formal. I also told her how it is more normal in England to have friends/girlfriends at your house, and that when I was younger I could always spend time at home with my girlfriend, and she said that she wishes it was like that here. She said that having such a close relationship with her family can restrict her sometimes and that she doesn't have the same amount of freedom to do what she wants.

When I got home today I had Gazpacho soup, followed by 'Judias Verdes' - green beans with ham and a fried egg. This is one of my favourite dishes.

This afternoon I actually spent quite a long time reading English new sites about the riots in London, as it seems to be quite serious. This has also received a lot of news coverage on Spanish TV, and when I went out to a bar this evening to eat, I watched the riots on the TV there too.

When I got back I had a chat with Cristian and I understood everything he said. I also think that I managed to keep up a good pace in my conversation. This is mainly because we were talking about things which I could express easily in the present indicative tense but I was still impressed with myself because I don't think I sounded too much like a 'guiri' (a slang word for foreigner). I also chatted to Charo about the riots in London, and about the fact that my girlfriend's sister had to leave work earlier because looters had broken into the building next door.

Now it's time for bed! Tomorrow I have an extra lesson in the afternoon, because there will be no school on the Monday due to the fiesta. Adios!

Today was the first day in class on my own. I had a lesson with just me in the class before when Ahmed didn't turn up, but it was different because there were other classrooms with lessons and the place still felt full of people. It was definitely different being just me and Cristina, because the rest of the building was empty and we were alone together, even when we went for a coffee during the break.

When there's just the two of us in the classroom, there is a greater tendency to get side-tracked and start talking about things unrelated to the course, but it's good anyway because it gives me a chance to practice speaking and it often leads to me learning some new vocabulary. When we left the school Cristina was walking in the same direction as me so we walked together, and also talked a bit in English, but we soon reverted back to Spanish because it is more natural for us.

When I got in for lunch, Oliver was at the house and this time he was with his girlfriend, Elvira. I wasn't that hungry at lunch time, but I had Gazpacho soup followed by a pasta dish that was similar to paella but with small pieces of pasta instead of rice. It was really nice but I couldn't eat much of it. After lunch I went for a siesta.

When I woke up I went back downstairs and sat in the living room with Charo, and a short while later Elvira came in and joined us. When the program they were watching had finished Charo left and I chatted to Elvira for more than an hour. Her voice is extremely fast, but for some reason I find it to be really clear and easy to understand, unlike Cristian and Oliver who I often have to ask to repeat themselves. Elvira told me that she is studying at University in Madrid to be a lawyer, and we talked about some of the differences between living in England and Spain. She told me that she keeps chickens and showed me some pictures on her phone, so I showed her my chicken blog and some of the photos of Toledo on this blog. It actually made me feel really good speaking to her because she spoke really fast and kept asking me questions, and I barely had to ask her to repeat herself.

When Oliver and Elvira left, Paula went with them. Paula is going to be away with them until Friday so I think the house is going to be really quiet! When she said goodbye she gave me a kiss on the cheek. I actually think I'll miss having Paula around because she spends quite a lot of time with me and she's always highly amusing.

Last night, I got back from eating and posted about the amazing free tapa I had eaten, and then about 5 minutes later Cristian came home and asked me if I wanted to go and watch a film at his friend's house. I was really tired, but I had been hoping to go somewhere with Cristian so I agreed and went with him.

His friend's house was outside of the casco in the new town, so Cristian drove us there in his dad's car. Before the film we stopped outside a shop and met 2 of his friends and he bought some coca cola and snacks. Then we went to his friend's house and there were another 3 people there (7 of us in total). I chatted to them a bit before we watched the film but didn't really talk much. When they chatted amongst themselves it was difficult for me to keep up.

By the time we put the film on it was midnight and I was too tired to understand much of it. When I'm tired my mind wanders and I can't concentrate on it enough to understand anything. Funnily enough I was still thinking a lot in Spanish and about Spanish phrases I had heard that night - I just couldn't concentrate on the film.

After the film I was really tired and I think Cristian was too so we left straight away, and chatted a bit in the car. I think I learnt more from the little bit of chat in the car on the way home than I did in the rest of the evening. I also learnt what 'cojones' are. (Look it up if you care).

It is interesting to see the difference between English and Spanish university students. The first and most obvious difference is that Spanish students seem to study in their home town (at least in Toledo) - Cristian and a lot of his friends still live at home, and everyone I've talked to who is a student here says that they grew up here. This is completely different to the UK where most people try to get as far away from their parent's house as possible! It was also interesting to see that they were sitting at home and drinking coca cola on a Saturday night. In the UK when a bunch of students get together on a Saturday night, they don't normally drink coca cola! In fact you only had to look at the mess on the pavements Sunday mornings in Coventry to tell how much the students there used to drink on a night out. I obviously can't say whether this applies to student life here in general as I have only been out with them once and it is holiday time, but it seemed pretty different from my memories of student life back in the UK.

This morning when I woke up Charo offered me something good for breakfast: I had tostadas which are toasted French bread (ok Isabel I know it's Spanish bread too :-p) with garlic, olive oil, tomato and jamon. After breakfast I went for a walk and to read some of my book, but in the end I felt too hot and returned home. The rest of the morning I felt slightly sick and just watched TV.

For lunch I had pisto (vegetables in tomato) to start, followed by chicken and chips, followed by natillas. After lunch I had a siesta and I think I could have slept for hours. I always set an alarm though so that I only sleep for 30 minutes but today it was hard to get up again!

In the afternoon I watched Toy Story 3 in Spanish with Paula, followed by Pirates of the Caribbean (also in Spanish). After that I walked into town and had a jamon and tomato sandwich, and some octopus salad.

Not the most exciting day but I had some nice food today. This is the last weekend I will be spending by myself, and the end of the second week which marks the half way point through my trip. I feel like I've been here forever! (In a good way!)

When you buy a round of drinks in Spain, it's quite common to get some tapas for free. Normally you get some nuts, or some olives, and sometimes something a bit better like some croquettes or the baby sandwiches in La Flor de la Esquina. Today I went out to find something to eat, and I went to a bar close the the main square. I thought I would just have a beer while I decide what to eat and they gave me this for free with my beer:

I had already eaten a few of the chips by the time I thought of taking a picture!

I got another beer afterwards and the barmaid asked if I wanted another one but I told her one was enough! Not bad to get a sandwich, chips and a beer for €2,00. I didn't need anything else in the end...

Yesterday I was due to meet Fernando at 7:30. I left the house with plenty of time, and made my way slowly through town towards the school. Just as I was approaching I looked at my watch and realised it was 7:55 - I'm not really sure how that happened but I think I had read my watch wrong earlier.

We were supposed to meet outside the school but when I arrived the door was open so I went in and Maite and Fernando were waiting for me. I apologised for being late and I think Maite was surprised because normally I'm always early for everything. When we left the school Fernando confessed that he had to run because he was running late too.

We sat outside a bar close to the school and chatted for about half an hour in Spanish, and about an hour in English. I was happy with this arrangement because Fernando doesn't get as many opportunities to practice as I do. He told me that he is training to be a police officer, and we talked quite a lot about the experiences of learning a new language. It was interesting because it seems things have been very similar for both of us in a lot of ways. He said that the first time he watched a film in English and understood most of it made him feel really happy and I agreed - for some reason it is really pleasurable the first time you understand something complicated in a new language. We also talked about the weirdness of English spelling and pronunciation, and he told me that he found English quite easy to read, but found speaking and listening more difficult. We also both agreed that it is much more difficult to understand each other's languages when we are tired. He said sometimes he watches a film in English, and understands the first half, but can't understand anything towards the end. The same thing happened to me on the Ruta Nocturna the other day.

It was also interesting to see the way he spoke - throughout the whole session he made very few mistakes and seemed to have a very good vocabulary and pronunciation. It was only the speed at which he spoke and could understand me speaking that gave him away as being a learner. I felt like I could probably talk about most things with him and he would understand though which is pretty impressive considering he has only been learning English for about 6 months. A few times he asked to repeat what I said because I had said it too fast - he said that when I speak fast he can't tell where one word ends and the next begins. This is a problem that I used to have with Spanish, but not so much any more. Normally I can understand the rhythm of Spanish now, but when spoken fast I simply can't process the information quick enough.

The way I speak Spanish is very different, I think. I have brief moments where I speak quite quickly, but only when I am familiar with the subject and normally when I am talking in the present tense and about myself or things that I have done. The problem that I have though is that there are a lot of things that I still struggle to say and understand. Some of the grammar is way beyond my grasp (for example the subjunctive) and I think that I need to improve my vocabulary a bit before I can talk about everything. When I talk I still make quite a lot of mistakes too.

After our intercambio I walked Fernando to the bus stop and we agreed that next time it would be easier for both of us if we meet outside the casco, and he takes me somewhere in his car.

Today was Saturday so I didn't have class today. I couldn't really be bothered to do much this morning so I went for a walk and then sat in the park near my house and read some of my book of Spanish short stories.

For lunch I had Caesar salad, followed by a mixture of potatoes and vegetables with pork kebabs, followed by natillas. I don't really have much planned for this weekend, but next weekend should be much more interesting because my Dad and Sue are visiting (from Alicante).